When The Red Rose Blooms
by KiiroSaya
Summary: Following Ryoma's return from America, Aozu holds a live concert in Tokyo, which triggers a series of events focusing mainly on romance and friendship. Major pairings are FujixKikumaru and RyomaxSakuno. This fanfiction contains occasional (very) mild sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

**When The Red Rose Blooms**

**Chapter One**

"Excuse me, excuse me! Oh my, I'm so sorry!" Kikumaru Eiji exclaimed whilst making his way out of the crowd hurriedly. With all his effort, he made it to the stairs leading to the exit of the underground, where he was blocked by another huge crowd. He scrunched his eyebrows together and sighed heavily, whilst making some slow small steps up the stairs. He looked at his watch. _Oh no! It's already 10.25! I'll never make it there in time_, he thought to himself and his heart sank.

It happened a week ago. Eiji was at home that afternoon, catching up on the latest gossip of his favourite JPop group, the Chocolates on TV, when the doorbell rang. He opened the door and there stood Fuji Shūsuke, with a beaming smile on his face. His sudden visit had surprised Eiji.

"Hello, Eiji," said the Fuji with a pleasant grin.

"A-ah Fu-Fujiko! H-hi…" Eiji began, but was immediately distracted and suddenly remembered he still had the JPop album Fuji lent him a long time ago. "A-aaah oh god! I'm sorry, Fujiko, I'll get it straight away!"

An expression of confusion appeared on Fuji's face. "Get…?"

Eiji had already gone back into the house, but he had left the door opened, so Fuji let himself in. He sat on the sofa in the living room and saw what was on TV.

"Now, here are some clips from the Chocolates' live concert in Hokkaidō! But before that, make sure you text your answer to the question to this number, at the bottom of the screen. The person who sends in the fastest response will receive a complete collection of the Chocolates' Live DVDs and the girls will also sign a poster just for the winner! Make sure you text your answer to this number right now!" Fuji chuckled. "Eiji just never changes, still a little kid in love with JPop idols," he thought to himself. He then realised that it had been way over ten minutes since Eiji had gone up to his room to get whatever he said he was going to get. Fuji was not impatient, he was just worried, so he decided to go upstairs to check on him.

"Eiji? Eiji, are you okay?" Fuji called out to his friend in the corridor. He was going to start calling a bit more loudly when he saw Eiji in his room, going through all his drawers and boxes, and it looked like he was ransacking the room.

"What are you doing?" Fuji exclaimed, whilst examining the mess Eiji had made. Eiji looked up with his puppy dog eyes, "Fujiko, I can't find the Ultimate JPop Collection CD that you lent me! I know you love it a lot, but don't get angry please. Please, please, please?"

At first, Fuji smiled, then the smile slowly transformed into a light chuckle, then into a laugh, then back to a smile again. "You can be so cute sometimes." Eiji looked at him, a bit confused, but was more than happy now that he had made sure Fuji would not get angry with him. When a smile had appeared on Eiji's face, Fuji went on, "Actually, I came here today because I have a little something for you, Eiji. I'm really sorry I couldn't get you a ticket to our Aozu concert next week. I don't think any of us have given out tickets to friends, except maybe Ryoma. We aren't allowed to this time," his face darkened as he continued to speak, as if the fact that Eiji could not be at his concert was a huge disappointment. "But," he said with a light smile, "I got this." He then dug into his right pocket and handed a piece of paper to Eiji.

"This is…" Eiji's words trailed off since he did not really know what he was holding in his hands.

"It's a pass, a pass to the backstage. I couldn't get you the normal ticket, but at least now, you can come and meet me in the backstage after the concert. You just have to bring this pass with you on that day."

Eiji looked at the pass, then moved his gaze up to Fuji's face, still with a smile. He took his time to understand what exactly the piece of paper meant, and once he did, he jumped up into the air and did a backflip. "Wow! That's awesome! Really awesome! I didn't know this kind of thing existed, Fujiko!"

Fuji merely laughed at his reaction and said, "The concert should have ended by 10.30, so please come around that time." Then the cuckoo in the cuckoo clock popped out and started singing a song about it being four in the afternoon. Fuji looked at the clock and chuckled, "You've got a new clock, Eiji. It's a very interesting one too." He smiled. "Anyway, I'm going back to the studio now, I have a recording to do at five. Bye, Eiji." With that said, he made his way out of the house.

"See you!" Eiji shouted down the street. Fuji turned around and gave Eiji one more calming smile, before he continued down the road and eventually disappearing around the corner.

_Ah… Why won't the people walk a little faster already? And why does it have to be a Friday? Fuji knows Friday nights in Tokyo are really busy!_ Eiji thought to himself as he realised he was no more than halfway up the stairs. He looked at his watch again, where he saw 10.31. Remembering what Fuji had told him, he exclaimed in an extremely loud voice, "It's already over!" People around started to give him weird stares, especially the businessmen. Quickly, he thought of something. He thought he might as well use this awkward moment to his advantage, and he started acting spontaneously. "Hang in there mother! My mother is ill! Please let me through! Her operation just finished, it's already finished! So please, let me see my ill mother!" As he was shouting, he forced tears to appear near his tear ducts and faked whimpers. He also made sure everyone around him heard everything clearly, and just like he wanted, people around started to make way for him. He then ran up the stairs and said "Thanks a bunch!" multiple times. He did feel bad about lying, but going to the concert was more important.

It was not a short walk from the station to the arena, where Aozu was having their concert, but Eiji did his best and reached there in just a couple of minutes. He dashed to the main entrance and saw that people are already coming out. _Crowds, again,_ he thought. He carefully hurried through the sea of people, not wanting to hurt any of them, since most of them were young girls. When he was just a metre away from the entrance, he bumped into a girl, who then fell because he was basically power walking.

He immediately helped her up and asked, "Are you okay? Sorry about that, I'm in a big hurry. Are you hurt? Anywhere?"

The girl shook her head and looked up to him. "Ki-Kikumaru-senpai?"

There was a moment of silence. "Sakuno-chan…?" There was another moment of silence before Eiji started to flood Ryusaki Sakuno with tonnes of questions, "Oh my god, are you okay? Sakuno-chan? Did I hurt you? Oh Lord, don't let ochibi know about this or he'll surely kill me! I'm so sorry, Sakuno-chan!"

"P-please don't be. I'm fine," Sakuno muttered. "Se-Senpai, do you possibly know the way to the backstage?"

"Backstage? Ah! You're here for ochibi, aren't you? He's so lucky to have you as a girlfriend," said Eiji in a teasing tone.

"E-eh? O-of course not! I'm not Ryoma-kun's girl-girlfriend. Ju-just a friend." Sakuno managed to give Eiji a reply, however with a completely red face.

"You're blushing! You're blushing!" Eiji began singing. "Right, so let's go to the backstage, shall we?" He took out his backstage pass and thought to himself, "I wonder if this'll really work. I'm a big fan of JPop concerts and yet, I've never got one of these before."

On the way to the backstage, Sakuno had loosened up a bit and decided to start a conversation with Eiji because she had noticed that he looked somehow troubled. "Kikumaru-senpai has the backstage pass? I guess Fuji-senpai was talking about you after all. Ryoma-kun and I were there when he asked the manager for one ticket, any kind will do. He said the night wouldn't be enjoyable at all if that person couldn't come. Kikumaru-senpai must be really important to Fuji-senpai."

That left Eiji speechless. He would never in his life imagine that he would be the person Fuji chose to invite to his concert, if he was only allowed to invite one. Somehow, this surprised him, but at the same time, it made him more than happy.

The pair entered the backstage, already filled with a lot of other fans, who have managed to get backstage passes too. _More crowds,_ Eiji thought to himself and sighed. He tiptoed and tried to find Fuji in the sea of people, when suddenly, he felt that someone had given Sakuno a yank. He turned around swiftly and wanted to see if it was one of those crazy fan girls. But when he had turned around, his eyes met a familiar-looking face.

"What are you doing here, Eiji-senpai?"

"Ochibi!" Echizen Ryoma was then greeted with a hug, which he swiftly ended by pushing Eiji away. "Ochibi! That's so mean! Meanie! Meanie! Meanie!" Eiji faked a sad pout.

"Just so you know, Fuji-senpai is over there," said Ryoma, after Eiji's endless complaint about his detached attitude towards him. "Come on, let's go, Ryusaki." He then grabbed Sakuno's hand and walked out of the backstage, the two of them hand-in-hand.

Eiji smiled at the sight, and then turned his head to look for the person who invited him here, his heartbeats going faster by the second.

_To be continued…_

Author's note: Please leave comments; tell me what you think about it and what other pairings you'd want to see.


	2. Chapter 2

**When The Red Rose Blooms**

**Chapter Two**

Fuji signed another autograph, his hands already trembling. God knew how many he had already done, and still the number of girls around him did not seem to be decreasing. In fact, more seemed to be rushing into the backstage than going out. Normally, Ryoma, being the most popular out of the four in Aozu would attract the most attention, and Tezuka Kunimitsu, Fuji Shūsuke and Ōishi Shūichirō could be more relaxed, comparatively anyway. But this time, Ryoma had decided to take a break and had left with Sakuno without a word. Fuji sighed, as another person seemingly emerged from the crowd and stood in front of him. Fuji took his eyes away from the autograph he was holding in his hand and looked down to his feet. He paused. _A boy…?_ He looked up and saw the person he had been waiting for the whole night.

"H-hey Fujiko," Eiji began, his face becoming redder by the minute.

Fuji smiled. There was something different about this smile, not something that the girls surrounding them would notice, but it was certainly different from the usual smile Fuji had on his face. "Thanks for coming, Eiji," he said, putting a hand on one of Eiji's rosy cheeks, "Eiji, you're sweating."

Eiji looked confused and it was now that he could feel drops of sweat running down his neck from behind his ears. "E-eh? A-aah, don't worry. It's just a bit warm today"

But Fuji did not buy his reassuring smile and said, "It's November, Eiji."

Eiji could see that Fuji's face was full of concern, and for the moment, both of them had completely forgotten about the crowd around them. Fuji noticed what Eiji was wearing; jeans and a skinny trench coat, with only a thin T-shirt inside. He frowned. It was already November, it was even snowing. "How can Eiji wear so little? He must've caught a cold," he thought.

"Come here," he whispered as he took off his own blazer and threw it onto Eiji. He then swiftly took his hand and spoke to his fans politely, "Excuse us," before they made their way to the band's dressing room. At that moment, Eiji felt really bad, it seemed like as if he had prevented Fuji to interact with his fans. Whilst Fuji was dragging him to the dressing room, he wanted to protest and Fuji could definitely tell, but the fact that Eiji did not in the end surprised Fuji. Instead, he followed his friend's lead and could feel a slight sense of happiness inside. The feeling he was experiencing could not help but showed on his face; his cheeks getting rosier and rosier and a light smile appeared.

Fuji grinned. That made him happy. They soon went into the dressing room and Fuji locked the door. Eiji heard the sound of the lock and gawked at Fuji with a big question mark written on his face. He was going to ask, but Fuji shushed him with his long index finger put on his lips. "You're ill. I want you to rest here without people disturbing," he said in a gentle voice.

He then went to switch on the heater and took the blazer off Eiji. He was going to take the trench coat off too, when all of a sudden, Eiji jumped up and exclaimed, "E-e-eh, I can do it myself!"

Fuji was taken aback by the volume of his voice, but managed to give a light chuckle. He nodded, then went on to start taking off his own top. It was a skinny top and after all that singing and dancing, he would really like to have a hot bath. He was exhausted. But since he did not feel like using the staff's bathroom, he decided to relax for a bit, half-naked preferably, then maybe he would change.

"W-w-wait! F-Fujiko! What are you doing?" Eiji shouted at the top of his voice.

"Just relaxing," his friend replied in a calm tone.

"B-but you shouldn't have taken your top off! You'll catch a cold too!"

"I'm really hot, Eiji. And tired. First the concert, then the fans," Fuji sighed. He made himself comfortable in one of the couches in the room, putting both hands behind his head. Now, his abs were showing.

Eiji could not help but stared at his friend's firm chest and abs. The Fuji in front of his eyes did not seem like the Fuji he once knew. There he was, half-naked, legs wide open, just like how a normal boy would sit. "He looks manly," Eiji thought to himself and that thought immediately made him blush, very heavily.

Fuji noticed the sudden flush on Eiji's face and smiled to himself. "Eiji."

"E-eh?" Fuji had caught Eiji in his daydreams.

"Are you still sweating? Are you feeling better now?"

"A-ah. Much better now, thanks Fujiko. I guess I should've worn more. But I was already late, so I thought that…"

"I'd rather wait for you than getting you ill," said Fuji with a warm smile.

Eiji did not know how to reply, so he just stayed silent. For the past couple of minutes, he had been sitting next to the dressing table. He did not know why, but he felt like keeping a distance from Fuji because of the things he had been feeling ever since Sakuno had told him about the pass. His heart was racing, his cheeks felt like they were about to explode and there was also this churning feeling in his stomach. "H-hey, Fujiko, I'm feeling much better now, so shouldn't you go back to your fans? I'm sure they're waiting for you," he said, trying to persuade Fuji to leave, hoping that the butterflies in his stomach would go away, " Tezuka and Ōishi can't handle them alone," he added jokingly.

"You think so?" Fuji stood up and walked over to Eiji and smirked, "Ryoma's taking a break with Sakuno-chan, I think I'm going to as well."

Eiji stared at him, a bit bewildered.

"Eiji, will you keep me company?"

Eiji gulped and nodded, which made Fuji's smirk to widen.

"Hey, Eiji, tell me, do you have someone you like at the moment?"

Completely shocked by the suddenness of the question, Eiji could only managed to open his mouth, but not a word would come out.

"Because I do."

Eiji was surprised, "F-Fujiko, you have someone you like?"

Fuji smiled and nodded, "You're the only one I've told."

That particular excited Eiji. He just loved knowing secrets, but he was definitely not a big mouth. "Heh, will you tell me, Fujiko? I won't tell anyone, promise!"

"Only because you're my best friend," Fuji whispered, "Lean forward and close your eyes, Eiji."

"E-eh? Close my eyes? Why?"

"Just do it. I'll tell you who it is," Fuji said in a low but soothing voice.

With a bit of hesitation, Eiji followed his instructions and he began to feel Fuji's breath and warmth close to his face. Fuji took his time to look at the beautiful complexion of the person he had always admired. He looked at the strands of silky red hair resting on the forehead, the cute cheeks tinted with pink, and the luscious lips waiting to be kissed. Fuji felt that he could no longer hold back his feelings. He had to kiss him tonight, he had waited long enough. He moved in closer to Eiji, until his lips were just a few millimetres away from the other boy.

At that moment, the door swung open.

"What are you two doing?"

Author's note: Please write reviews and leave me comments as usual, I love hearing from you!


	3. Chapter 3

**When The Red Rose Blooms**

**Chapter 3**

Ryusaki Sakuno felt her heart fluttering non-stop as she walked through the crowd hand-in-hand with Echizen Ryoma, the person she had long been interested in. The past few months had been confusing for her, maybe in a good way, but confusing anyway. After Ryoma had returned from America, his attitude towards her had somehow changed, almost as if they were already in a relationship. That was what people around Sakuno kept telling her; and it seemed natural to assume that if a boy such as Ryoma, who was so in love with tennis, starts caring for someone, it just had to be love. However, Sakuno was not so sure herself. She did not want to assume anything; until Ryoma made it absolutely clear that the feeling was mutual, her love would remain unrequited in her heart. How she thought, however, was unbeknownst to her long-term crush.

"Ah, Koshimae and his woman!"

Ryoma and Sakuno both turned their heads to see Tōyama Kintarō, the carefree and naïve boy from Shitenhōji, Ryoma's former rival, 'former' because they had somehow managed to form some kind of friendship. Being the total opposite of himself, Ryoma found this rookie, as he liked to call him, quite annoying. Sakuno, on the other hand, always liked his company, refreshing and entertaining.

"Tōyama-kun…"

"Just call me Kin-chan already, Saku-chan!" Kintarō said with a beaming smile, "And you too, Koshimae! Because we're best friends after all! And why didn't you call me after you're back from America? God, I've been waiting for that phone call! And every time I – "

"Cut it out already, you idiot," said Ryoma as he shoved Kintarō's face away with his hand, "I don't want to be seen in the public with an airhead like you."

"Hey, Koshimae – "

"Anyway, are you here for Aozu's concert as well?" Sakuno asked, wanting to change the subject of their conversation.

"Aozu?" Kintarō's face looked blank for a minute, then he made the silliest smile ever, "what's that?"

"Eh!? Kintarō-kun doesn't –"

"Told you he's an airhead, now let's go." Ryoma started to pull Sakuno away, when he felt a hand grabbing his arm. He sighed, "Don't tell me you're lost."

Kintarō chuckled lightly. "See? Best friends!"

Sakuno laughed and Ryoma just shook his head, "you're a moron." And the three of them made their way through the Tokyo crowd.

* * *

><p>"What are you two doing?"<p>

"Ah A – " Fuji began.

"Eh? Nothing! Nothing!" Eiji quickly sat up straight and tried his best to get rid of the awkwardness in the room but putting on a faint smile on his face.

"I see this is what you do when you're a taking a break, Fuji. What would the manager say if he knew? Hmm?"

"Fujiko didn't do anything, he was just – "

Fuji chuckled, put his top back on, and went over to the dressing table to pick up a hair-tie, then put his almost shoulder-length hair into a low ponytail. Eiji continued observing his best friend whilst he felt his pounding heart beat increasing. Fuji looked so calm and normal after what seemed to be a very intimate moment between the two. "Was I the only one, who had butterflies?" He thought to himself, "as a matter of fact, still having!" The unease in the room was making Eiji's heart explode, but Fuji, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to the tension. As he made his way to get a cup of water, Eiji watched him carefully, all the way from the back of his silky hair to the highlight of his model figure – his long legs. He blushed at the sight.

"So anyway, why are you here? If you're looking for Tezuka, he's right outside." Fuji finally broke the silence.

"Oh?" The person smirked, "That sounded almost as if you're saying I'm not welcomed here."

Fuji put on his signature smile before replying in a gentle voice, "How could I say that to the person, who's done so much to promote my band?"

"Aha, so you are aware."

"Of course," Fuji smiled again, "Atobe."

Watching Fuji and Atobe talk made Eiji feel a little uneasy; he was not sure why, but he felt left out. Knowing the fact that Atobe was the person who promoted Aozu made him feel even worse. Without realising, he began comparing himself to Atobe. He was not as good-looking, not as rich, not as good at tennis and he did nothing to help Fuji achieve what he had now – his success in the music field. All of sudden, all the butterflies he had in his stomach disappeared, replaced by the worst feeling ever – jealousy. Although Eiji tried his best to contain his emotions, as Fuji looked over, he noticed a slightly saddened boy sitting all alone, silent. Fuji's heart sank.

"Ah I'm so hungry right now. Hey, Eiji, won't you come with me to eat Yakinaku? I've always wanted to try the newly opened restaurant at Shibuya. I've heard it's really good."

Fuji's sudden invitation startled him. "E-eh?"

"Sounds fun," said Atobe with a smirk.

Fuji glared at him for a second before asking Eiji to wait outside the door for him, saying that there was some business he needed to speak to Atobe about and that he would be out shortly. With that said, the door shut and Eiji stood outside, alone. For the first time, he wondered if Fuji was keeping any secrets from him. Above all, right now, he really wanted to barge back into the dressing room to see what was going on between Fuji and the king of Hyoutei.

"I know why you're here, Atobe," Fuji began, "But like I've said a thousand times already, what happened that evening in the karaoke bar stays there."

Atobe stared at him, eyes wide opened, then laughed uncontrollably. Fuji was stunned, "I-I am completely serious!" It took Atobe a few good minutes before he could settle down and speak normally, still with some occasional laughs. "I know, I know you're serious. And please, don't ever repeat what you've just said to me. Believe me, Fuji, I've had so many 'happenings' at karaoke bars; I've nearly forgotten about ours until you brought it up just now." Fuji was seriously taken back by what he was hearing. "However," Atobe continued, "it'd be very interesting to see what your little redhead friend had to say to that if he knew." As Fuji tried to utter a response, he added with a wink, "and to Yukimura." And before Fuji could say a word, he swung the door open and left after doing a goodbye nod to Eiji.

"So that's what he's after," Fuji thought to himself, "some drama and entertainment to lighten up his boring rich boy life." Then side-by-side, the two friends left the arena and into the crowded streets of Tokyo.

When Eiji saw Fuji's darkened expression, his heart immediately skipped a beat. Until now, he had not realized just how much he cared about his best friend, if the term was even appropriate. "Did something happen, Fujiko?"

There was a pause. "Say, Eiji, about that secret I was going to tell you about…"

"Yes?"

"This is completely irrelevant, but what's your type?" He smiled.

The suddenness of the question shocked Eiji. "M-my type? Ummm…" He began stuttering, "I don't know, someone who's maybe funny, and…" He scratched the bandage on his face, "and kind, gentle, perhaps clever…"

"Would you ever like two people at the same time?" Fuji asked quietly without looking at Eiji, which made his voice barely audible in the busy Tokyo streets.

"What did you say?"

"To like two people at the same time, is it possible?" This time he spoke a little louder, but the fact that it was a touchy subject made it difficult for him to say it out loud and clear.

Eiji took a little while to formulate his answer, primarily because he used too much time to think about the relevance of Fuji's question to what happened earlier in the dressing room. "Yes, it is possible, I think."

"Is that so?"

"But what's with this kind of question anyway! You're very strange tonight, Fujiko!"

Fuji faked a laugh, "Am I? Sorry I made you worry Eiji. This is all for my psychology essay actually."

"Psy-psychology?"

"Yes, I'm doing my research on the emotion, love." Fuji felt his chest tightened as he lied, but he had to. He did not want to fulfill Atobe's expectations and provide him the series of drama he wanted to see. He did not want to corrupt and taint Eiji, who was so pure, so innocent, so lovable. He was not aware that someone knew about his past love affair, if it should even be considered as past. Either way, he did not want the subject to be brought up, and no one to know about it, especially Eiji. "Say a word to anyone and die, Atobe," he cursed under his breath.

Eiji pouted and pretended to be annoyed, though he actually was. It seemed as if he had been used in Fuji's experiment. "How nice to have been part of your experiment."

Giving Eiji a pat on the back, Fuji said whilst laughing, "Sorry! Sorry! Tonight's my treat. Ah, we're here."

"Welcome," says the waiter, opening the door for the two.

"It smells really good in here!"

Author's note: Sorry for the long wait! Please review as usual.


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